Miki’s dancers make their mark

Friday

Apr 19, 2013 at 11:21 AMApr 19, 2013 at 11:24 AM

Students from Miki’s School of Dance traveled to Minneapolis to compete in the Dance Olympus Regional Dance Competition.

Students from Miki’s School of Dance traveled to Minneapolis to compete in the Dance Olympus Regional Dance Competition. There were 17 dance studios and 340 dance routines from Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota, and Canada. The judges were Jeremy Arnold (touring tap dancer with Shelley Oliver), Ellie Barrett (master teacher and performer in modern dance and musical theatre from Jacksonville, Fl), and Debra Nanni (master ballet and jazz dancer from Joel Hall - Chicago).

The competition was held on Saturday and the Dance America workshop was held on Sunday. Dancers had the opportunity to take class with the judges as well as Alvin Ramirez (hip hop teacher from Los Angeles) and Matt Tseng (lyrical instructor from Los Angeles).

It was a successful weekend for Miki’s dancers.

In the Senior solo division Beth MacDonald earned a DOTY (Dancer of the Year Qualifier), Costume Award, and second place modern solo.

In the Senior Division, Beth MacDonald and Hannah Steffen placed third overall duo/trio with “Dance Marathon 1942”. The same dance also was 1st place senior duo/trio musical theatre. “ I Want to Dance With Somebody” (Beth MacDonald, Hannah Steffen) earned a first place in the lyrical senior category.

In the Intermediate division “Swing” (Junior and Senior Dance Team) took a first place in large group open and a first with “Five Guys” small group tap (Dahl, Kuntz, MacDonald, Sampson, Steffen). “Fuego” (Dahl, Kuntz, Sampson) earned a second place duo/trio tap. “Meet The Flintstones” won a third place small group musical theatre and “Hey Daddio” won a fourth place. In the solo division: “Baubles Bangles and Beads” - second place solo tap (Mallory Kuntz), “I can Cook” - third place musical theatre (Ellie Rutten), “Down with Love “ - fifth place solo tap ( Lauren Sampson), “Someday” - honorable mention jazz solo (Arieannna Nelson).

In the Junior Division Parker Hanson won a DOTY (Dancer of the Year Qualifier) with his hip-hop solo “Dig It”. He also won first place male hip hop and second place male solo of the division. The Teeney Bopper Dancers earned second place awards for “Step In Time” (large group musical theatre), second place for “Jump Shout Boogie” (large group tap), second place for “Coffee In A Cardboard Cup” (small group musical theatre: Hanson, Janssen, Larson, Sobolik), and second place for “Rompin’ and Stompin’ (duo tap: Kitchens, Steffen). Solo standings: “Rugcutter” – fifth place (tap-Anna Janssen), “They’re Red Hot” - sixth place (tap – Grace Quam) Honorable Mention: “I Don’t Want To Show Off” (musical theatre – Paige Larson), “I Love Paris” (Gina Burtness)

In the Primary Division, Gabby Hanson, (Small Fry Dancer at Miki’s) earned a DOTY (Dancer of the Year Qualifier) as well as a second place for her solo “Jazz Baby.”